Domination
by Lupin's Magelet
Summary: All animals have their own social behavior, a fact that Daine understands better than Numair. He's starting to get an idea, though...Wolves, dolphins, and the final chapter smells like lemon pledge! D/N
1. Chapter 1

**The last two books are my favorite, but I absolutely love wolves (wow, big surprise, right?) and I wanted to reintroduce the pack. This story is basically addressing more of Daine's past, as well as her relationship with the pack and Numair.**

**There are no lemons in this story, but a bit of limeade.**

**This story is dedicated to Jack the Toy Poodle, who got frisky with my shin in order to protect his 'pack'. Dogs act silly in boarding kennels.**

**- Lupin's Magelet**

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"Numair, can you stop fidgeting?"

"I'm sorry, but it is a tad…uncomfortable to sit like this for a prolonged period of time. We aren't all as young as you are, you know."

"Don't go pulling out the 'old man' card now," she chided.

"But I am an old man," he pouted.

"No you aren't. You're just older than me. Besides, you are confusing 'I'm an old man' with 'I'm a man'. If you don't want to damage yourself I suggest you learn how to ride properly."

Numair squirmed uncomfortably in the saddle while Daine fruitlessly wished for the trip to be over already. She and Numair were checking in on the less-than majestic Apple Tree of Dunlath for Jonathon, who may have inquired as to whether or not the tree had been chopped down…yet. Numair had decided that they should visit the Long Lake pack while they were in the area, because it had been so long since Daine last saw them. She, on the other hand, was not looking forward to the reunion. She'd protested, but Numair would not listen. While Daine loved the wolves like family, it would be awkward returning to them after the change in her and Numair's relationship. Especially at this time of the year. _How to explain this to a man who could only approach things in the most subjective manner…I mean, maybe if we'd spent more _alone_ time together._ _No_, she thought. _Numair wants to protect my virtue, or some other foolish notion of his._

Numair's voice stirred her from her thoughts. "Daine, didn't you say that one of the wolves would meet us at the fork in the path?" His arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer to him as he pretended to lose his balance in the saddle. Daine grinned, enjoying _this_ part of the excursion. Knowing that Daine would most likely spend the majority of her time in animal form the two had left Spots to rest at the keep and taken only Cloud. The wild mage was more comfortable with this arrangement for both herself and for Spots.

Not to mention the added bonus of being cradled in a saddle with Numair. They were so close she was practically sitting in his lap.

'_Tell the storkman to keep his hands to himself while he's on _my_ back, or I shall bite him and ruin his pretty hair._'

Daine giggled as she relayed the message to Numair. He frowned and solemnly swore that there would be no shenanigans in the saddle…so long as said saddle was attached to Cloud. "Fleetfoot said he would be here at noon. Here, let me down."

He lowered her down to the ground before falling out of the saddle as Cloud bucked him off. The horse sighed as the weight on her back was removed. "Ouch!" he yelped. The mage stood, rubbing his sore backside and glaring at his mount. Without turning his eyes from Cloud, he asked, "Aren't we a little early to meet him, then?"

"Yes, but I thought we could grab some lunch." As an afterthought Daine added, "And we have something to discuss before we meet up with the pack."

Curious, Numair removed the pack with the cooking supplies from Cloud and began preparing a temporary campsite. By the time he had a decent fire going, Daine returned with a large hare. Numair looked at her, surprised that she had hunted for them. "You heard my Da – I can't have him scolding me for not hunting." He wasn't convinced. "Besides, these little ones reproduce quickly."

"Whatever you say, magelet. Would you like me to clean it?"

"Yes, please. I didn't even think about having to do that."

"You don't have to hunt if you don't want to¸ you know."

"I know, but…let's just say a lot of things have happened to make me reconsider."

"If you're sure." They sat in companionable silence, alternating between checking the meat and watching Cloud graze nearby. Daine scooted closer to Numair and rested her head on his shoulder, trying to devise a plan of attack for the upcoming conversation. Numair complied and raised his arm to wrap around her shoulders as she snuggled into his side.

All too soon he broke the silence. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Daine shook herself from her drifting state. "Huh?"

"Earlier you said there was something you wanted to talk about. Care to give me a hint?"

"Oh, right." She really was dreading this talk, but only because she had no way of knowing how he would react. Every little thing he did around her was done in a manner that suggested Numair was frightened he would make some mistake and scare her away. Daine had no idea whether or not Numair was as flighty as he believed Daine to be. "Well, I suppose I just wanted to warn you before we met up with the pack."

"Warn me about what? Daine, you're flushed – what's the matter?" Numair was worried, and Daine finally mastered her emotions.

Daine cleared her throat. "Uh, Numair, how much do you know about pack life…or wolves, for that matter?"

He brightened up a measure, but was still concerned about whatever had Daine so worked up. "I did some additional research on wolves after our return from Dunlath…the first time. I wanted to know how – and why – they had allowed you to join the family. They treated you as a foundling pup, a subordinate because you were no physical threat to the others. Right?" Daine nodded. "I'm sorry for rambling, what exactly did you want to warn me about?"

Daine blanched. She moved further away from Numair as he inched closer to her to comfort her. "No, please – I just need to get this out. I mean, it's not such a huge deal for me, but…"

"But I should be worried, you mean."

"No! I mean, well, not worried, per say, but I'm not sure how you will react when I tell you, so be prepared." Daine was wringing her hands.

'_Daine, just tell him already. You are overreacting._'

Taking a deep breath in and out to calm herself, Daine locked eyes with Numair and began to speak. "You're right about my being accepted into the pack as an immature subordinate. When we last visited, I left the pack as a mature subordinate, because mentally speaking I was weaker than the rest. Now, though…"

"Are you saying that they will perceive you as a threat? I can't believe that they would harm you."

"No! Not a threat, exactly, but they see me as Pack," She tried to explain as he began clearing up the site. "They know that I'm not a wolf, but they see me as a member of the pack and they will treat me as Pack. When they see you, well they already know that you are with me, and at this time of year we – " a howl broke her stumbling. _I guess he'll just have to find out for himself, then_. "He's here. We should go."

Numair shook his head. "Are you going to explain what you were trying to tell me?"

"No. I'm sure you'll find out soon enough." _That's it Daine, just chicken out. No wonder he's barely touched you yet – you can't even talk about _this. "I'm going to travel in wolf form now, if that's alright."

"Whatever you want, Magelet." She shifted before his eyes and he quickly gathered up her discarded clothing. Numair, deciding that Cloud deserved a break from carrying his graceless form through the forest, grabbed the horse's reigns and followed Daine and Fleetfoot. He was startled to discover how Daine's tail swayed in the same manner that her human hips did. This discovery left him feeling mildly agitated and uncomfortable, as he was sure that Cloud would relieve him of his manhood should she know the lurid thoughts forming in his mind. _Those _hips…_and if she shifted now, she wouldn't be wearing anything and…No! Think of something else. According to Hami of Brer, the 6 Principles of Magic are focus, source, Gift,…_

Twenty minutes later Numair was able to make out the muffled yips and snarls of tussling wolves nearby. Daine's ears perked up and she raced out of sight with the other wolf. Cloud froze where she was, refusing to take another step no matter how much Numair tugged on her lead. He gave a final sigh of frustration and hauled the pack from the saddle before heading off in the direction Daine had disappeared to. The snarling and yipping had turned to a low growling and whining, and from what Numair could tell it was the banter of fewer wolves than he heard before. He rushed on, only to stop in his tracks as he broke into the clearing before the den.

_Holy Mother of Mithros…_ Numair dropped the pack to the ground as his jaw dropped.

Butt-sniffing and face-licking he was used to – had expected, really. They were things canines did to greet one another. He was familiar with the different ways the wolves cocked their ears and could differentiate between a frightened look and an aggressive stance. He knew the order of the pack ranking system and he knew how often wolves had to hunt in order to stay healthy. He even knew the typical gestation period of a she-wolf and the optimum size of a pack's hunting grounds.

This one thing, though, Numair was blissfully unaware of…until now.

There, in the midst of all of the other wolves, were two females. One, the disagreeable female who disliked Daine, was mounting a slightly smaller wolf. Numair's discomfort heightened as he realized that the smaller wolf was in fact Daine. He shifted, trying to ignore what this sight was doing to him. _What in the Realm of the Gods is going on?_ His mouth opened to speak, but his voice caught in his throat.

Wolf-Daine's head turned at that moment and saw him standing there. Her ears were drawn back and her lips were clenched in a thin line, exposing her teeth in a low snarl. The look she saw on Numair's face gave her the motivation she needed to drop down and roll onto her back, causing Frostfur to lose her balance and fall to the ground beside Daine. The wildmage leapt upon the bigger wolf and clasped her scruff in her jaws as she in turn mounted her opponent.

Whatever discomfort Numair had experienced before was long forgotten as he watched his magelet nearly pound this angry wolf into the ground. He was transfixed by the sight, as odd as it was, because he had never before seen such…well, there was no better term for it than _animal behavior_, in his younger companion. Had his mind been able to process this encounter he may have wondered what she was doing, or if she had ever done that to a human, or if she had ever _thought_ of doing that to a human…but as it was he was numbed both inside and outside by the emotions wreaking havoc with his body. His mind barely registered the reaction of the part of his body that Daine had been teasing him about earlier. All he could do was stand there and watch with the rest of the pack.

He remained still even when that big male…what was his name? Brokefang?...decided that Daine was fair game for treating his mate that way. Daine put up a pretty good fight, but the male was larger and stronger than she was and she really had no urge to harm him. In the end she ended up on bottom again, although this time Frostfur stood by and watched with a smug look on her face as Daine was humiliated in front of the others. The wolf-girl winced as she caught sight of Numair out of the corner of her eye, knowing that she owed him a very good explanation as to why she was being subjected to this sort of treatment by her adoptive family. On one hand she was sorry that he was here to witness it, but on the other hand it really wasn't something she wanted to discuss when he may not believe her. _Either way, serves him right for dragging me up here in the first place._

Of course Numair's brain began to sizzle and his blood boiled as he watched this large wolf doubled up and growling as it wrapped around his love's rear end to point that the tail he'd been admiring minutes before was hidden from sight. This reaction may seem like complete and utter nonsense to some but made perfect sense to him. Why shouldn't he get upset that some other male had done that to Daine before he did. _Moreover, why am I allowing some other male to do that to her while I _watch? _And why haven't I done that to her yet?_ His thoughts made absolutely no sense. "Daine?" The wolf-girl snarled and twisted around to bite her supposed wolf 'friend'. At that point Brokefang was eying his mate with a look of pure and desperate need. She in turn lowered her ears and reprimanded him for not giving his full attention to the wolf he was supposed to be putting in her place.

Daine, taking advantage of Brokefang's divided attention, was able to squirm away from her friend. He made to follow after her but she gave another menacing snarl before dashing headlong towards Numair, who was just starting to regain control of his limbs. Daine, still in wolf form, leapt up and locked her slender front legs around Numair's waist and began rapidly rocking against his upper leg. He froze and looked down at her furry head with wide eyes, startled to see how she met his gaze. The sensation was bizarre because while he knew that Daine was doing this as a wolf, he couldn't help but think about what was going through her mind at that moment, or if it would feel the same when she was human.

He absentmindedly raised a hand to stroke her head but she snapped at him and he stopped. Just as suddenly as she had taken possession of Numair's leg she released him and was back on all fours, growling and snarling at the other wolves. The tall man nearly collapsed at her side, but she turned and growled in an attempt to herd him from the clearing. He obeyed her and staggered to pick up the pack and made his way back to where Cloud remained. The sounds she was making were as close to laughter as a horse could come, and Numair did not appreciate her humor.

"You knew, didn't you," he hissed at the horse. Daine, embarrassed, impatient and hating being ignored, tugged the pack from Numair's hand, spilling the contents across the ground. She picked her clothes out of the heap and ran off to change behind a bush. She was dreading facing Numair again and could only pray that he would understand. _Maybe this will get him to…open up a bit…_ When she was again human and clothed she slowly made her way back to Cloud and found Numair already mounted and waiting, their belongings re-packed. Without a word he pulled her into his lap and directed the amused horse back out of the forest. Daine wrapped one arm around Numair's shoulder to keep her balance as the two bounced awkwardly in the saddle. Daine wasn't sure which issue was more pressing – the speed at which Numair was urging Cloud or the…_thing_ pressing into her hip. One glance at Numair's set face gave her the answer.

_I didn't expect _this_ sort of reaction out of him…hmmm, maybe our talk will be more productive than I thought…_

Cloud stopped abruptly at the site they'd stopped at for lunch and all but bucked the two foolish humans from her back. Once Daine had removed her saddle and reins and told her not to wander too far, Cloud disappeared from sight. The sun was beginning to set and Daine suggested that they rest there for the night. Numair merely nodded and began to make camp, still refusing to speak. Daine pulled some salted pork from the pack and set about heating it over the fire. Numair set the protective spells for the night and, having nothing else to distract his mind with, plopped down beside his companion.

The two watched the pork sizzle in the fire before Numair blurted, "Was that what you were trying to warn me about?" Daine blushed, nodded, and rotated the spears the held the meat. "Do you want to explain what all of that was, then?"

She was too embarrassed to meet his gaze. "You told me you'd read all about wolves." Her tone wasn't accusatory, just evasive.

"Yes, well, even _I_ don't know _everything_. Besides, I'm not quite sure that reading about…well, about _that_ is quite the same as actually seeing it." He ran his hand through his hair anxiously, shifting in his seat as he did so.

"I told you that we shouldn't have come," she grumbled.

"But you never told me that _that_ was going to happen. I wouldn't have even suggested we come if I'd known!"

Daine finally, face radiating defiance, turned to meet his eyes. "Do you even know what _that_ was? Why that happened?"

Numair thought for a moment before frowning and shaking his head. "I can tell you what it _looked_ like, but I take it there is some actual basis for that behavior, right?"

She nodded, turning the meat again. Her voice went from nervous to bitter as she spoke. "Yes. Um, _that_ is how wolves demonstrate dominance over other members of their pack. If I were an outsider Frostfur would have outright challenged me, but no, she wanted to prove to everyone that _she_ lead the pack – not me. She still hasn't forgiven me for the last time we came here and disrupted the order of everything. The fact that we came at this time of year just made everything worse."

"What do you mean? It's nearly fall – what has that to do with anything?"

"It has everything to do with everything, Numair! Or do you learn all you can about something and conveniently leave out the bonding and mating part?" She was on her feet and fuming, although Numair was completely confused if not utterly embarrassed.

"I don't understand. I mean, they know you are human…" he trailed off as Daine shot him a look that told him he was nowhere near as smart as most people thought he was.

She sat back down and rubber her temples soothingly. "I am going to go through this once, Master Salmalin, so you better be paying attention. Frostfur and one of the other females were in heat, meaning that the rest of the pack was already on edge because it is that special time of the year when Brokefang has to make sure that he is the only one doing any mating. As the lead wolves, only Frostfur and Brokefang are allowed to mate, and Frostfur was taunting the others with that fact when I got to them. You know she doesn't like me, and she was just waiting for an opportunity to put me in my place. Besting me in a fight would show she was the superior fighter, but _dominating_ me would show that I accepted her superiority and humiliate me at the same time. Naturally, I could not stand aside while she insulted me, so…"

"So you allowed her to… _dominate_ you? I'm afraid I'm not following." Numair was doing his best to keep from raising his voice, but Daine was too distracted and upset to notice.

"I didn't allow her to do anything to me! The rest of them ganged up on me because that is what happens when a subordinate challenges the mating pair. They all _knew_ that I wasn't fighting for rights or anything like that, but then _you_ were there and they could smell you all over me so they just assumed that we…and really all she needed was any small excuse and – "

"I'm sorry… 'they could smell me all over you'?" She laughed at his raised eyebrow, finally allowing the tension in her shoulders to melt.

She took a deep breath and scooted closer to Numair, who was pulling the cooked meat from the fire. He handed her one spear and began blowing on the other to cool it. "Well, we were sitting rather close on the ride here…"

"Alright, but then what was that bit at the end?"

"Hmmm?"

"I can understand the part about Frostfur, but then you broke away and –"

A cough interrupted her cooling the spear. "Yes, I, well, at first I was trying to explain to her that we were only visiting for a short while, and then she said some rather insulting things about me and about…well, I had to show her that I could beat her at her own game, so I did. But then Brokefang got all possessive and decided to help her out." She saw Numair's jaw tighten and she shook her head. "He didn't want to, really, but Frostfur was, well, threatening him…"

"Let me guess – he was going to be sleeping in a different den tonight?"

They both chuckled. "Yes, I suppose you could call it that." She tested a chunk of pork and, satisfied that it was cool enough, tucked in. Numair followed suit, silently working through his question in his mind. Daine had cleared up most of the incident, but there was still one part that he did not understand. "Numair, what is it? You've been looking at me like that all through dinner."

"Looking at you? How so?"

"With your eyes obviously. And they've been squinting so long I do think I can see a few wrinkles sprouting out – oh, right there!"

"You're lying."

"Perhaps."

"You shouldn't lie."

"No, but you are avoiding the question."

"Well you still haven't answered my question. Why did you do it?"

"Numair, I just told you. I –"

He shook his head and pieces of hair started coming loose to rest across his forehead. "Not about them. About me."

"Oh."

"Well?"

"I thought you would have figured that part out." She blushed and turned away. Numair's hand found her chin and turned her so that she met his eyes. She glanced away and then back. "When we were here last, I still didn't know who my da was. Frostfur…she basically implied that I was a fatherless whelp who was no better than a runt and would never find a mate because I would be just like my mother…a toy for the males when they got bored." Her voice was a mixture of pain and anger.

"And you had to prove her wrong."

"No."

"No?"

"I had to prove them all wrong." She was staring off into the distance, and Numair wasn't quite sure that Daine was talking about the pack anymore. He urged her to go on. "Back in Snowsdale that was what they said about me. They told me that no bastard child with a mother like mine would ever amount to anything. That was why Ma was so desperate for me to have the Gift. She wanted to make sure that I was not taken as some older man's wife…or worse."

Numair, secretly hurt by her words, tried to lighten the mood. "Hmp. I thought you said she liked me."

"Oh, Numair, that isn't what I meant. Back home I would have been married off to an old bald widower with a huge belly. Trust me when I say that you don't fit that epithet at all."

"Is that really what would have happened?" He would never admit it, but Numair often found himself wondering what would have happened if Daine's family had not been murdered, if she had been allowed the "normal" life that most young girls take for granted. He hadn't really considered the delicate position that her birth put her in. Yes, she'd always referred to herself as a bastard, but Numair'd always found ways to overlook the fact.

"Either that or I would take over as the village…well, take over for my Ma. More than likely I'd have been traded."

"Traded!? You must be joking."

"Sure. Not everything is as simple as you may think, master mage. Smaller villages need a way to get supplies, and trading orphaned or unwanted children is best for everyone. The village gets supplies and one less mouth to feed while the orphan gets a home of sorts. If the village hadn't taken to my ma so well, I'd have been traded for sure."

"You can't mean that your mother would have given you up…"

"No, but the village would have traded me nonetheless. Anyways, I've been able to put most of that behind me. There are times, though, when I get rubbed the wrong way and I can't help but wonder about what could have been. What if my da was just a regular vagabond and my mother a common whore? I wouldn't be able to talk to animals. The men I tracked down would have killed me because I was alone. That would have been my tragically short life, killed by bandits."

"Daine, you mustn't dwell on such things." He reached to pull her closer but she pulled away slightly, just enough so she could maintain eye contact.

"I know, and Cloud is generally very good at knocking some sense into me. It's just that I feel I've lived so many lives, sometimes I need to remind myself of what's real and where I'm supposed to be. I – I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier."

He shook his head and muttered, "Uncomfortable is not quite the way I would describe it." Her head cocked to the side in question. His smoldering eyes gave her the answer. Unable to hold his gaze, Daine began to gather the eating utensils together to clean. Instead of helping her, Numair enjoyed the sight her movements afforded. "I know you may find this odd, but you didn't look too bad with a tail."

She dropped the dishes and turned around to find him sprawled against a log, the very picture of contentment. "I'm sorry?" _Tail? Was he staring at me? Am I so atrociously hideous that I should cover my rear with a _tail_? Why am I asking myself these questions and not him?_

"What I meant to say was that I've noticed a lot of similarities between your human and animal forms," he stumbled. He hadn't intended to reveal his discoveries to her, but then again the image of her _tail_ just wouldn't leave his mind.

Still listening, she continued picking up dishes. "Really? Like what?" She knew that it wouldn't be like Numair's bird form, where his feathers were the exact dark shade of his hair – she always looked like the animal she shifted to.

Numair was still uncomfortable, but he soldiered on as he watched her zip around the campsite. "It's just that…well, the way your tail swung when you were walking…it sort of reminded me of – "

"Master Numair, you wouldn't by any chance be suggesting that you frequently take to watching my backside when I'm not paying attention, would you?"

"Wha? No, I – "

"Not that I'm complaining, because Mithros knows you stick your hind-quarters in my face so much it's difficult _not_ to notice yours. I mean honestly, it's almost as though you were flaunting it like a peacock or something." By this point Daine had succeeded in clearing away the dishes and further flustering her companion. His mouth was moving, but no words came out. Daine took pity on him and moved to his side, lifting his arms so she could perch on his lap. "You're just so tall, Numair," she explained. "Any time you stand up while I'm sitting, you're just _there_, in my face. Still, I'm not complaining. All of this adventuring we've done over the past few years has certainly helped you to fill your breeches."

Numair shook himself and decided to return the favor of Daine's teasing. "You wouldn't by any chance be implying that my breeches were ever anything but filled out, would you? And since when have you taken such a keen interest in my 'hind-quarters'?"

"Long before you took an interest in mine, that's for sure," she mumbled. Numair chuckled, bouncing them both in the process. Daine sighed wistfully. "But then, you're no Brokefang…"

Daine giggled as Numair's brow furrowed. He let out a great huff of air before sending the young woman to the ground in a most un-gentleman like manner. She shouted in protest, but he silenced her cry with his lips. Surprised, Daine took a few moments to respond to his searing kiss. When she finally began to kiss him back Numair slid to the ground overtop of her, covering her body with his. While he kept most of his weight off of her, he still had her pinned to the ground in a very intimate way.

Daine was elated. She'd expected more trouble from Numair when it came to intimacy. She knew that he'd been with other women and therefore wanted to refrain from 'taking advantage' of Daine with any extreme physical relations. He wanted her to know she was different. He would kiss her, but nothing like this. She gasped when she felt just how _much_ Numair had been holding back. Her hips moved of their own accord, frantically trying to make friends with Numair's pelvis. His hands stroked her sides in a way that made it impossible not to arch up to press her chest against his. One hand moved to bury itself in her thick hair and Daine's hand felt obliged to act in turn. Numair hated his hair to be messed with, but her fingers on his scalp felt too good to complain.

They were both breathing heavily when he suddenly pulled his head back. Daine looked up into fiery black eyes. He whispered something to her, but she didn't catch it. "Magelet, take it back," he repeated. Her eyebrows joined in question, and in response Numair pressed against her in a slow, deliberate grinding motion. She squirmed to allow him more room, but he ground down even harder. "Take it back."

Her chest rose as she inhaled deeply. "You know I was only joking," she breathed.

"Say it." He was growling by this point and had stopped moving against her. Daine tried to make up for his sudden stillness by squirming against him, but he had her pressed down to the point where she could barely move.

"Say what?"

"Say it."

She huffed, causing her chest to brush against his. Numair's eyes darkened for a moment but he held her gaze. "I'm sorry for implying that you were…inadequate." His eyes continued boring into hers, demanding more. "And it was an understatement on my part when I said that your breeches were only 'quite full'," she whispered. "Brokefang hasn't got anything on you, either." She moved to kiss him again and continue what it was they'd been doing earlier, but by the time she managed to raise her head to close the distance, Numair was back on his feet and brushing the dirt off of his knees. Dumbfounded, Daine watched from the ground as Numair set out their sacks for the night. Instead of separating the two as usual he laid one over the other to create a cushion against the hard ground. Numair climbed into the sack and turned his back to the fire. Daine sat up, wondering what had changed his mood and where she was supposed to sleep. It was cold and she very well wanted her sleeping sack, no matter Numair's mood. Just as her anger began to flair she remembered a past conversation between the tall mage and herself.

She coughed to get his attention. "Haven't you forgotten something?" He rolled to find her glaring at him, causing him to smile. "You haven't left me with any bedding." _Cloud, I need you to come here for a moment, please._ The pony snorted some distance off and grudgingly made her way to the wild mage's position.

Numair raised a corner of his sack before saying, "I was going to invite you in here since it is so chilly tonight, but then it appears I've taken up most of the room." He was smiling in delight, having turned her words against her.

"Perhaps, but it would be very, very _bad_ of you to make me sleep out here in the cold," she smiled back sweetly, making her way to kneel beside his head. _No, not yet_.

Missing her meaning, Numair propped himself up on his elbows, bringing his face closer to her's. "So what if I'm very, very bad?" That was when it clicked for him. He knew what she was talking about, and he couldn't believe it. "Am I dreaming, or are you using marriage to bribe me into letting you sleep with me?"

She ran a tantalizing finger from his hairline down to his chin as her grin grew wider. "I never said anything about that. I just wanted my sleeping sack, which you've taken from me. You're the one who suggested I sleep with you."

Just as Numair unconsciously began leaning closer to Daine, Cloud raced from some unknown area in the trees. Her heavy hoof beats were headed straight for Numair, and he scrambled out from his travel bedding to avoid being trampled to death. Cloud stopped just short of actually running him down and shook her mane in agitation before fading back into the shadows. Numair's hand measured the racing of his heart, which slowed considerably when he finally looked to Daine for an answer and instead found her laying out her bedroll on the opposite side of the fire. Once she'd settled into a comfortable position she graced Numair with an angelic smile. "_That_ is what happens when you are very, very bad. G'night, 'Mair."

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**R&R, please! I'm thinking about doing a few more one-shots depicting Daine's interactions with other animals, and how that affects Numair. Let me know what you think, or if you have any animal suggestions…**


	2. Chapter 2

**I never meant to abandon this story, but since none of my secretive readers felt like suggesting anything for a follow-up, it took me a while to find something that would be equally as realistic as the wolf pack. I was reading an article on aggressive animals, and this one startled me. Obviously I had to write a chapter about it.**

**And honestly, everyone loves Flipper.**

**This chapter is a little darker than the last one, so if you're having second thoughts about continuing with this story, I won't be offended. Honestly, I'm amazed I haven't been flamed already :D**

**(and I promise that the next chapter will have what everyone's been waiting for)**

**- Lupin's Magelet**

* * *

Numair rolled his stiff shoulders. How long had he been sitting in the library reading? He looked around, but there was no Daine to laugh at him and tell him that he'd been lost in his books again. The thought of her brought a smile to his face. Right now she out doing some research on marine life for him, and when she got back…

His smile stretched to the point his face ached. Spending time with Daine was one of Numair's favorite things, but lately their disagreements had gotten more intense. It was utterly ridiculous, but something inside of him had snapped after their trip to visit Daine's furry family. The fact that he had gotten jealous of a wolf was slightly disturbing, especially considering that Brokefang hadn't really done anything to her. And Numair had already seen other men ogling the object of his affection. No, jealousy was nothing new for him.

What had really gotten to him was the way that Daine had addressed the topic. She'd been too embarrassed to warn him about what they would most likely encounter when they met with the pack, yet she'd explained away the occurrence like it was the most natural thing in the world. Daine's comfort level with Numair was clearly higher than he had expected. Numair, having once feared stealing Daine's innocence, now wondered if she was really _ever_ as innocent as she seemed to him. Even as a virgin she seemed to know as much as he did about 'the mating process,' and her exposure to the animal world afforded her with a more intimate understanding of the way the world worked than most humans. Numair had firsthand experience of how enjoyable intimacy was, but Daine had undergone a different kind of exposure. Animals lacked the shyness humans possessed in regards to mating and reproduction, so Daine had witnessed just about anything and everything.

Numair didn't like to think of himself as a deluded romantic – he'd been with enough women to know that the life of the court flirt was not for him, though still enjoyable – but his talks with Daine had turned more uncomfortable. After all those hours spent pounding biological information into her brain, Daine had decided to use that information against him.

"This book says that most animals only come into heat once or twice a year."

"And?"

"Well, animals are driven to mate when the females go into heat, right?"

"Yes. The cycle established by the female's heat ensures that offspring are born into a suitable climate."

"But it still doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't make sense?"

"Humans are animals, too: why is mating among animals so different from human sex?"

He paused here, wondering where she was going with her current line of questioning. "Daine…The mechanics are all very similar. I'm not sure what you're confused about…"

"You know. Romance. Passion. Pleasure. There are very few species that mate for life, and even fewer that actually enjoy it."

"Enjoy 'it'?" he'd asked tentatively.

"Yeah. I mean yes. In most cases, the males force the female into submission in order to show that he is a respectable mate. But humans consider that type of behavior to be inacceptable and have entirely different criteria."

"Daine…"

"No, I'm not saying that rape is a good thing, I'm just trying to point out that breeders encourage their prize stallions to essentially rape mares, and most women demand flowers and jewels and the like before they will so much as pay attention to a man." He'd looked at her like she'd grown a third head and she'd dropped the subject. "Nevermind. Forget I said anything."

He suspected that the conversation had meant something, but he wasn't sure. Daine wasn't the type to crave tokens of affection. She didn't wear jewelry unless she was forced into a dress, and she was always sure to fight on those occasions. She also wasn't one to bring up painful subjects, and he knew that her final encounter with Ozorn continued to trouble her dreams.

Numair wasn't quite sure what was happening with them at present. Daine had become more…assertive, he could say, and he in turn had become more possessive. He knew that being possessive of his much younger love interest would not help diminish the rumors at court, and though he really didn't care what they said about him, he knew enough of Daine's past that she didn't need more people talking about her. Rather than ensuring that they had their secluded daily encounters to sustain them, Numair had backed away, afraid to just admit to himself that he wanted her. That he needed her.

Frustrated that he couldn't concentrate on his tome, he leaned back in his chair and began to calculate how long he should wait before heading down to the beach after his magelet.

* * *

Alanna surprised her by laughing at her retelling of their visit with the pack. "Of course, you _would_ think it was funny. He won't even look at me and you think it's hysterical." Daine adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder as she walked along the coastal wall of the keep.

"Oh, don't exaggerate. You know that that man is head over heels for you."

"Then why doesn't he ever do anything about it?"

Alanna coughed. "Have the two of you finalized your engagement yet?"

Daine stumbled over a loose stone. "Well, no, but I don't think that—"

"Ah ah—you know very well why he wants to wait."

_Of course I do,_ she thought, _but that doesn't make the idea any less pathetic_. She tried another approach. "Are you expecting me to believe that the most powerful mage alive can't create a simple conception charm?"

"Do you really think _that_ is the reason he's been fighting you off?"

Daine did a double-take. "What is that supposed to mean, may I ask."

"Don't go asking questions that you already know the answer to." They paused at the shoreline, knowing that Daine had no room to argue that she'd not been forward with her mage. Alanna watched silently as Daine placed her bag atop a rock, far from the reaches of the ocean. She shivered as a cool breeze swept over the water, chilling her to the core. "Numair really wants you to do this now?"

Daine plopped down and began unlacing her boots. "He just wants me to do it eventually, but I figure that I may as well since they're here. I've no idea where to find them the rest of the year."

"But isn't it a bit…cold?"

She flailed an arm in the direction of the water in response. "Do they look like the cold bothers them? Besides, I could do with a cold bath right now."

The sounds of playful dolphins drew Alanna's attention. She watched them jumping and splashing, so intently that she nearly missed Daine's bare form diving headlong into the surf. Rather than her soppy brown hair, a sleek grey head appeared and clicked a goodbye to Alanna. "Just remember what the fishermen warned you!" she called after her.

By that point Daine was already getting reacquainted with the dolphins she'd met during her first visit to Pirate's Swoop. She asked as many questions as she could remember discussing with Numair, eventually allowing the dolphins to do all of the talking.

"Isn't this more fun than paddling around like a drowning dog?" chirped the female dolphin to her left.

Daine sped to the surface and somersaulted through the air in response. "Yes, I believe it is." Diving back into the water, Daine circled effortlessly around her companions. She spent so much of her time dealing with inland matters that she rarely had the chance to enjoy a swim in the ocean.

"Have you really never swum in dolphin form before?"

"Isn't it obvious? She flounders about like a calf." Daine's impression of the dolphins was mixed. On one hand, the way they glided through the water made her reluctant to return to the land and her human form, but at the same time the group she was with were getting on her nerves. "The next thing you know she'll ask us to take her to the surface for air."

The female chided her male companions, but they paid her no mind and clicked and chirped their amusement. Emboldened by his friends, one of the males swam up to Daine and propped her up as a mother would her calf when teaching it to swim. Two more joined him, and before Daine could squirm away, the leader of their merry band swam beneath her, making sure to press the length of his body against hers. She tried to bite him as he swam by, but his friends butted at her with their noses and tails, spinning her until she was too dizzy to remember which way the surface was. She could hear the insulting comments they made, but they moved around too fast for her to place a voice with a body.

Dazed and beginning to panic, Daine was an easy target for the rowdy males. "Stop it!" she screeched at them, but they ignored her as they had the female.

They were really enjoying this.

First the wolves, and now the dolphins—was she ever going to be left alone? She loved the animals dearly, but they were driving her nuts. The only male who should be interested in her nether regions was Numair, who had been unusually distant of late. Infuriated by the dolphins' treatment and her sexual frustration, Daine resorted to shifting her head into that of a great white shark. She was disoriented for a moment, shifting from mammal to fish, but once she'd adjusted to breathing with gills, dealing with the dolphins was a piece of cake.

At least, it was easier with her having a gaping mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. The dolphins continued to provoke her, ramming into her sides and brushing against her underside with theirs, but she was too angry to care about that. Rather than bother snapping at them until they decided to give up, she turned tail and headed in the direction she instinctively knew the shore lay in. It was awkward swimming with a shark's head and a dolphin's body—the two were not meant to work together at all—so she settled back into her dolphin form and rocketed through the water. The others were faster, though, and soon caught up with her. Sensing the shore at last, Daine propelled herself into the air and once more changed forms. As a sea gull, she circled over the furious dolphins, who were leaping into the air in an attempt to pull her back down to the water. She emptied her bladder into the face of one of the males and continued towards land.

Numair was waiting for her, holding a cloak out. No doubt he'd seen a dolphin change into a gull mid-leap and had assumed that it was her. She flew straight into him, changing as he wrapped his arms and cloak around her. Rather than gathering up the cloak in her fists and drawing it closer, she struggled to wind her arms around Numair's waist. Daine's sobs rose over the noise of the crashing waves and the angry clicking of the pod, though she didn't bother explaining what had happened. He understood that something was wrong and swept Daine up into his arms and, checking that his companion was fully covered, headed towards her quarters inside the Swoop.

She couldn't be sure if they passed anyone on the way, as her face was burrowed into the safety of Numair's neck. Occasionally she heard him growl in distress, but she was unable to discern the rush of fleeing footsteps over his foreboding stomping.

A wave of Numair's hand sent the door to Daine's room flying open and a fire roaring in the fireplace. He settled down upon the sofa in front of the fire and cradled Daine to him. Her tears continued to fall, but she was more embarrassed than anything. What would Numair say when she explained everything to him? _He'll pull away from me even more, that's what'll happen_. Another sob wracked her body as she allowed Numair to rock her, gently stroking her hair and whispering soothing words to her as he did. When she'd finally calmed her breathing, she laughed sardonically. "Well I s'pose it serves me right for going out there as I did. Cloud and Alanna warned me, but I ignored them, didn't I? Mithros, I ignored the fishermen!"

He shifted her in his lap for a better view of her face. The look in her eyes made him worry that she blamed him for whatever had happened—hadn't he been the one to encourage her to research pod life? It only stood to reason that he was at fault, but at fault for _what_ exactly he didn't know. "Daine, sweet, what happened?"

"Oh, Numair! I was so foolish!"

"What do you mean?"

"Even knowing what I did, I ignored the signs. I was so happy playing in the surf with them that I forgot how…how…how…" She threw her hands into the air, knocking the robe from her shoulders and exposing herself. She didn't appear to notice, or if she did, she didn't care that she sat half-naked on Numair's lap. He wasn't so upset that he didn't notice, but he did have the good grace to push those thoughts aside for later. His magelet was upset and he needed to help her. He pulled her hands from her hair and held them in his, resting them atop the folds of fabric in her lap. Her eyes, reddened by the salt-spray and her tears, pled for something beyond his understanding. "I'm not even sure how it happened."

"Why don't you start from the beginning." Now that he knew how to broach subjects she tended to avoid, the task of urging her to open up to him wasn't quite as daunting as it had been when they'd first met. She trusted him far more than he would have ever expected her to trust a human, and constantly he reminded himself that he could never take advantage of that trust. "You found me in the library and told me that you were going to swim with the dolphins. What happened next?"

She took a deep breath to steady herself and launched into her story, making sure to leave out the conversation she'd had with Alanna on the beach. "I've been talking to the sailors about the pod's seasonal habits and such, and yesterday one of them warned me that…that dolphins can be very aggressive. I just brushed it aside because most humans fear animals that they don't understand, and I've never had trouble dealing with aggressive animals before. When they do try and assert themselves, I still have my magic to make them listen to me. So when I went down to the beach today, the pod was already waiting for me and I just dove in to join them. They taught me so many things, Numair, like how they hunt in murky water and like to follow ships in the open sea. They're so smart, almost like the griffins."

"That sounds wonderful," he confessed, still confused about how this experience could've end so badly.

She nodded against his shoulder, once more seeking the comfort that only Numair could give her. He righted the cloak around her shoulders again to stop the sudden chill making her shiver. She continued. "They're so smart, I didn't figure on them being so much like humans. You remember what I said about humans being the only ones who enjoyed…"

"Canoodling?"

"Mhmm. Well, it seems I was wrong. The dolphins enjoy it too, but they're less picky then humans are."

He had a sinking feeling that he knew where this was heading. "Are you saying that they…I mean, they didn't, did they?"

Her tears turned to guilt and hatred, though not at the dolphins. "They were just playing around like men do when they're showing off, but you see, to them I was practically in heat, and they didn't care that I wasn't really a dolphin. To them, I'm People. That's how most of the People see me, and the dolphins didn't seem to care either way. One of them actually told me he wouldn't mind if I changed back."

Numair's jaw dropped. "You mean to say that those dolphins tried to get you to have…" he trailed off, unsure whether this behavior even qualified as sex.

"Yes. Instead of just willing them to go away, I kept trying to explain that it was wrong and that I wasn't a dolphin like them. This one really big male asked me why it was wrong when I hadn't been claimed yet. Numair, they could _smell_ me. You know I can't hide my feelings easily, and they kept pestering me about why I was so worked up and not mated yet…" She abruptly stopped talking and toyed with a strand of Numair's hair that the wind had pulled free of his hair tie. As her hands moved to pull the rest of his hair free, the robe slipped from her shoulders again and Numair's gaze was drawn to what lay hidden underneath.

It wasn't the sight of her bare breasts that got to him. He'd seen them many times before, as Daine frequently forgot when she was clothed and when she wasn't.

Instead, his gaze was drawn to the bruises that were blossoming across her pale flesh. Her chest, her shoulders, her ribs—turning her around he could see her back was battered as well. There were small puncture wounds along her arms which he took for bite marks. "They did this to you?" She nodded. "Why did you let them?"

The tears returned, her pain intensified under Numair's touch. He wasn't hurting her, but the pain in his eyes increased the guilt she felt. "You know I hate forcing the People to obey me—I thought I could talk to them. And they're smarter than other animals, so I had more trouble using my will. Eventually I tried to fight against them, but they enjoyed that even more so I swam back to the beach as fast as I could. Naturally I couldn't outswim the bigger males, so I took to bird form and that's when I found you." She winced as he brushed the pad of his thumb against a scrape on her shoulder that was beginning to bleed.

"What else hurts?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Daine you are _not_ fine. I'm not good with internal injuries—should I fetch Alanna?"

"Really, there's no—ouch!"

Numair set her down on the sofa and grabbed a nightdress from her dresser. "Let's get you dressed properly before I go find her, and don't say you're alright because you clearly aren't."

"You know that if she comes to heal me, she's just going to have me undress anyways, don't you?""

"Humor me." She cried out again as he tried to slip material over her head. "Alright, then, at least cover up in bed. You're freezing." He kissed her forehead as he tucked her in. "I'll be right back with Alanna."

* * *

When Alanna left Daine's room, Numair was waiting for her. He jumped up from his spot on the floor and ushered her into his quarters. "Is she alright?"

The Lioness put her hands on her hips, glaring up at the mage who towered over her. "Yes, no thanks to you."

"Me? What did I do?"

"Exactly my point!"

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Numair, you great dolt—don't you understand what happened to her?"

"Yes! She was nearly gang-raped by a pod of dolphins!"

"Because of you!" Catching herself, Alanna lowered her voice. "She's sleeping next door, and I want her to stay that way. Her bruising was extensive, but I couldn't find anything more serious than a cracked rib and a sprained wrist. She should heal up nicely." Numair relaxed into a sitting chair, but Alanna wasn't through with him yet. "You really are thick, you know?"

"I still don't understand how this was my fault. She went down there of her own accord—I didn't force her to do anything she didn't want to. If I had suspected that the dolphins would treat her like that, obviously I would have prevented her from joining them." She actually slapped him. Right across the face."WHAT! TELL me what I did wrong!"

"You idiot—what reason would a pod of dolphins have for trying to mate with a human? Think _very_ hard, Numair."

_Why doesn't she just tell me already if it's my fault?_ "I told you that I have absolutely no idea. Daine said something about them thinking she was one of them, one of the People, I mean. But I didn't think that dolphins typically mated in the fall."

"My dear Lord Mage, pray tell if you have, perchance, taken any walks with the young Daine around my home lately?" Her voice was threateningly sweet.

Like a fish to a hook, Numair answered, "Well, no, not really. I've been busy compiling my research for Jonathon…"

She gave him an evil grin. Of course she already knew the answer, but one had to take their time when explaining things to Numair. "Then it will certainly have escaped your notice. I see." She raised a brow, daring Numair to question her further. He had nothing left but to ask what she meant. "The way the animals have been acting, of course. The mounts are bashing at their stalls in an attempt to escape and frolic in the fields, the dogs are in heat and sneaking off into the bushes whenever they're outside, and that's the least of your problems."

"My problems? I don't see how this has anything to do with me."

Alanna puffed herself up like she did when she let loose her anger on her husband or her soldiers, turned to take another look at Numair's door as though she expected the wild mage to enter at any second, and faced Numair again. "This is all your fault, nimwad, because you haven't done so much as held Daine's hand since you returned from Dunlath! Oh, she told me what happened with the wolf pack, but you've got another thing coming if you think that I'm going to believe you're still trying to protect her innocence." He had the gall to still appear confused, so she continued. "She's been in a perpetual state of sexual frustration since then, and _you_ haven't done anything about it! You've been hiding in my library instead of locking her in your room or throwing her up against a tree, and she's going crazy because of it!"

"_She's _going crazy? What about me? _I'm _practicing restraint while she throws herself at me whenever she can, and—"

"—and she wouldn't keep throwing herself at you if you would give in already! It's not as though she enjoys all of these horny animals. Onua has been forced to keep a rope on Tahoi because he wants to help Daine 'take care of her problem.' Shut your mouth, it's unattractive to let it hang open like that. Most of the animals seem to be dealing with Daine's hormones with their own kind, but some of them, like those dolphins earlier today, have been driven to help her out in a way that you can't seem to find the time to."

"This is ridiculous. I shouldn't have to explain my reasons for sleeping or not sleeping with Daine to you." He was pacing now, black sparks beginning to crackle around his imposing form. "I'm not going to bed her just because you told me to."

As she surveyed Numair, a certain part of the mage's anatomy rose to protest. Disgusted that she'd stared in the first place, but amused that not even Numair could fight off Daine's power, Alanna decided to leave her friend with a few choice words that Thayet and Onua had demanded she convey to the mage. "Numair, you know that we all care for you, and for Daine, and we respect that the difference in your ages may be something to contend with, but the simple fact of the matter is that if you don't bed that girl soon, we'll find someone else who is more than willing to."

"You wouldn't dare."

"No? Well, if the animals are back to normal in a few days and you haven't done anything, I suppose you'll have your answer," she called as she left Numair alone with his thoughts.

* * *

**(All reviews will be donated to a good cause, as they help me to write faster)**


	3. Chapter 3

**OH MY. I should first say that I do not check in on this account nearly as often as I should, as I haven't been receiving many reviews for my stories posted here. I'm fine with that, by the way, because I mainly write to amuse myself.**

**But when I signed in to my email and found **_**70**_** notifications regarding this story, well, I knew I needed to hurry up with this chapter. Really, I was blown away by the responses, and I wanted to thank you all for your encouraging words. I would not have bothered finishing this chapter before the summer if it wasn't for you!**

**For those of you who suggested more animals, I will keep them in mind but I think this story is wrapping up shortly. Probably only one more chapter.**

**To Dria, who has requested that Kaddar make an appearance, I'm sorry, but I don't think that he's going to fit into this story at all. I liked him as a character, but Numair is too jealous and would not allow him invitation to this party.**

**To PaulieK, you're right—Daine is considered a dominant. I went with the angle that the wolves considered her to be subordinate because that was how she had entered the pack and there is only room for one dominant pair. As that pair was clearly Brokefang and Frostfur, it made sense that Frostfur would feel threatened by Daine, now a dominant. Sorry if I didn't explain that very well.**

**For the rest of you waiting for more romance, I promise we'll get there soon! **

**- Lupin's Magelet**

* * *

A sharp pain in her side brought Daine back to consciousness. While Alanna had healed her as best she could, the majority of Daine's injuries had been minor enough not to warrant magical aide and painful enough to cause her, well, pain. The more she woke up, the more she realized how much pain she was in. She rolled towards her nightstand where Alanna had left her tonic, but found she couldn't move. Something held her to the bed.

Instinct took over before she had a chance to think and she shifted into the form of a panther, dark and lethal. She swatted at the figure holding her down and leapt to the floor, slinking around the foot of the bed for a better view. She hadn't clawed at the man, but he cried out anyways, startled by her attack. "Ahh! Daine!" It was Numair. _Of course, who else would it have been?_

He disentangled himself from the sheets and positioned himself so that he was kneeling on the bed. He held out a hand toward her, a silent request that she join him.

She knew what he wanted, but she couldn't allow him the comfort. Each time Daine had managed to hurt herself, Numair hadn't been satisfied that she was going to be alright until he'd been able to hold her and talk to her. Back then she'd always been comforted by the attention, but now…now she was angry and wanted to make him understand. The pain of her injuries was momentarily forgotten as she wondered what she should do. If she joined him on the bed, human and _naked_, he was sure to hold her until she did something that made him leave. It had always been that way with them—Daine obeyed and Numair did as he wanted. And while she longed to be in his arms in any sense of the phrase, she couldn't fight back the fear of rejection. He could push her away or leave her side as many times as he pleased, convinced that he was doing the right thing.

But what of her? Why did her opinion never seem to matter? "Daine?" Making up her mind, Daine joined Numair on the bed. Still in panther form, she derived a small amount of pleasure watching Numair shrink back against the headboard. If she was going to get her way, she needed to use her power to her advantage. She stopped when she stood between his legs. His eyes were wide and for a minute she thought she felt the air crackle with his magic. Was he really prepared to use magic to fend her off?

A rumbling purr in her chest let Numair know she was laughing a second before she lie down in his lap, her head propped against his thigh while her long tail whipped back and forth between his calves.

The black mage looked down at his magelet in shock. This was the only time he'd had a real wildcat in his lap; her silence worried him. Her attack had surprised him initially, but he also knew that it was a product of her disorientation. He probably would have lashed out had he been in her position. His hand itched to stroke the sleek body reclined against him, but he decided to hold back until he figured out what Daine was up to.

She shifted her position and let out a whimper somewhere between a whine and a yowl. The adrenaline had worn off and Daine's injuries once again troubled her. Raising her head, she searched for the tonic on the nightstand. As a panther she could easily drink the tonic…maybe not straight from the bottle, but Numair was smart enough to go and find a bowl if she refused to change back. However, she could feel that a few of her bite wounds had been forced open and were beginning to ooze. Those could only be properly treated if she was in her human form, and surrender was a rather distasteful option at the moment.

Numair, hearing that she was still very much in pain, let his guard down and stretched out a hand to comfort her. His fingers instead encountered a patch of warm, sticky fur. Daine huffed and whipped her head around but otherwise remained still, he gaze once more shifting to the nightstand and the objects that rested there.

Her already labored breathing turned into a sort of panting as she spied the salve and water pitcher—she hadn't realized before how much sea water she must have swallowed, but her throat was on fire. "Daine…" She growled her displeasure with the man. "I know you're angry, and I promise I'll let you yell at me all you want in the morning, but right now you are injured and bleeding all over your sheets and I think that you will be in far better condition to put me in my place after you are healed and rested."

"Alright." Daine bit back a laugh as Numair nearly leapt off the bed and began fiddling with the things Alanna had left in an effort to distract himself. She couldn't help from whimpering a bit as she tore a sheet from the bed to cover herself. Taking the unstoppered tonic, she gave him a skeptical look before drinking it. "Aren't you going to get Alanna?"

"Wasn't planning to…why? Do you want me to get her?"

"No—I'm fine. I just figured you'd want her to give me another going over." She tipped back the drink, gagging as it assaulted her olfactory senses, and clenched her other hand over her mouth to keep from spitting it up as Numair took the bottle back. Gulping down air after she finally managed to swallow the foul thing, she watched him gather the salve, water basin, and cloth.

He placed them next to her on the bed and hesitated before joining her. "She said she fixed what she could, but the bites and bruises will have to heal on their own, so…"

"So…?"

He straightened up and moved the basin over so that he had enough room to perch on the bed. Black tendrils spread from his fingers through the water, causing steam to rise from the surface. He dipped a finger and, satisfied with the temperature, began soaking the cloth. "I need to clean the cuts before I put the salve on."

She nodded, remembering a similar situation from a few months back. "It's a shame we used up the salve Ma made. That worked wonders." Out of the corner of her eye she saw him nod. "I'm not angry, you know."

"You may have a few scars, but these bites don't look too deep."

"Numair."

"I think it'll be easier if you lie down."

"Numair."

"Go on."

"Hmph." She lie down on her stomach as directed and allowed Numair to pull the sheet away to expose her shoulders and lower back. The situation wasn't exactly what she'd imagined, but she couldn't really complain. The touch of the warm cloth stung a bit, but Numair was gentle and his methodical ministrations lulled her into a happy place where the pain seemed to fade away. She wanted to ask him why he'd been in her bed, but he probably didn't feel like telling her the truth at the moment. "Where's Kit?"

He grunted, dropping the pink cloth into the basin. The salve made his fingers tingle as he began to dab it onto her wounds. "Let me know if I'm hurting you."

"Doesn't hurt," she mumbled into her pillow.

"Good. In answer to your question, Kitten is banned from the indoors and is most likely walking the grounds at the moment."

Daine tried to sit up but Numair held her in place. "Why would you do that? She's probably—"

"—very worried about you, yes. And as if Alanna didn't chastise me enough, Kit gave me an earful as well."

"So you locked her out?"

He leaned around her so she could see his face. "Not until a few dozen of your closest woodland friends came to investigate. They came in your window, mine—and then the darling dragon took it upon herself to clear them out! I couldn't get her to calm down, so Alanna sent her outside before she burned the place to the ground. I know they like to come to your rescue, but I've never seen them act like this before…" He moved down the bed to work on her legs. "Has it really been so bad?"

"What?"

"You know…what you were telling me about earlier. Why Alanna was yelling at me." The tone of his voice clued her in, but Daine didn't feel like having that particular discussion again. He allowed the silence to continue until he finished with the numerous wounds on her feet. "Alright. Turn over."

"No."

"No?"

"I don't want the salve to rub off." She was reaching and she knew it, but the fact was that she didn't quite feeling like being naked around the mage right then, and she didn't have the energy to the produce fake anger it would take to make him leave her alone.

"It's not going to rub off." He was forced to physically flip her, which naturally only served to produce genuine anger from his patient. "We can have a long talk after I'm finished and you're dressed again, but until then stop fighting!"

She slammed her head back into the pillow, relinquishing her grip on the sheet. Careful not to cause her further discomfort, Numair knelt beside her and peeled the fabric away. "You know, that's not generally what a lady wants to hear from the gentleman that's broken into her chambers," she said, averting her eyes.

He reached for the water basin, quirking an eyebrow in her direction. "But I've told you time and again that I'm not a true gentleman."

"So you continue to say," she said under her breath. He nodded in acknowledgement, but uttered no reply to her gibe. He cleaned her chest quickly, though exposed as she was Daine couldn't help but shiver. The sensations were all wrong—she wanted to rejoice that Numair was finally touching her body the way she'd longed for, but the pain from her injuries prevented her from enjoying the situation too much. At least this time she hadn't needed to corner him. "Ow," she said, recoiling momentarily.

"Sorry." He grazed his thumb over the deep bite above her left knee. "It's strange to think that you received this when you didn't have legs."

His hair fell into his face, covering his expression, but Daine already knew he felt guilty about her current predicament. "Shouldn't be so strange—you broke your arm when it was a wing, if you remember."

"I do, but that didn't make it less strange." Daine shivered and pulled the sheet back over herself. Numair couldn't tell if it was modesty or chill; either way she was uncomfortable. "Anyways, there were other issues where _that_ particular adventure was concerned," he said, moving down the bed and pulling her right foot into his lap. "Nearly finished. I can sneak into the kitchens and find you something, if you'd like."

"You just promised me a talk. Besides, I'm not hungry."

Daine watched Numair as he returned the materials to the nightstand. He was tensed, which meant that they were finally going to have the talk. The talk that involved actual talking. About actual things.

Things like…_canoodling_.

Rather than sitting next to her on the bed as soon as he was finished cleaning up, Numair crossed the room to fetch her a nightshirt. He knew there was no way to prolong this talk, and if he was honest with himself it was long overdue. The sexual frustration was evident in the room, but he needed to remind himself of his initial arguments against furthering their relationship at present. His fingers toyed with the pale green material, shadows from the fire continuously dancing across its folds. It was coarser than he'd expected, most likely a shirt she wore when she slept in the stables. Would she continue to sneak outside in the middle of the night if they shared a bed, or would he be company enough for her?

He glanced over his shoulder in her direction as he stooped to stoke the fire. She had propped herself up into a sitting position, the sheet a cocoon around her body, her eyes fixed upon her hands. His heart clenched as he realized what he'd done. He'd allowed her to be hurt in the exact manner she'd feared. _"A plaything for the males,"_ she'd said. Maybe it was different from the way they'd both imagined, but that didn't change the fact that males everywhere—human and animal alike—were concerned with the wild mage's _happiness_. All along he thought he'd been doing his best to prevent her from feeling cheap, but now…

Soft eyes met him from across the room and he knew his time was up.

As Daine was wrapped up in the bed sheet, Numair placed the nightshirt at the foot of the bed and curled up next to her, careful not to aggravate her wounds. Daine shifted away so that she could see his face better; to her he looked like a large child about to confess a misdeed to a parent. "It all boils down to this, I suppose: I'm an animal, and I don't want to be."

She waited for him to continue, but that seemed to be the extent of his declaration. "Of course you aren't—I knew that nearly the moment I found you in the woods. But what has that anything to do with—"

"You remember the conversation we had a few days ago? In the library, before I asked you about the dolphins?"

"When we talked about the differences in mating rituals. Yes, I remember."

"You asked me why human and animal behavior differed so, because—"

She pulled the sheet tighter around her shoulders, wincing. "Because most male animals must assert their dominance over females in order to mate." She gave a dry chuckle. "I suppose we can add dolphins to the list of mammals that mate for pleasure, now. They're less picky than most humans."

"I can't believe you aren't more upset about this."

"You must have forgotten the part where I fell to pieces earlier. I do believe you were there."

"Still…It's all my fault, and I owe you an explanation." He reached out and grasped her hand in his.

She took comfort in the warmth, but it wasn't the time to move closer to the rest of his body yet. "If you think that what happened out there yesterday was your fault, you're loonier than I thought."

"Even Alanna blames me."

"Of course she does. And so do Onua, Cloud, George, probably even Thayet and Jonathon. But it shouldn't matter what they think."

"Right, because that's worked so well for us before."

"I'm serious."

"Yes. Alanna said as much. It appears that it is entirely my fault for teasing you and ignoring you enough that everyone other than myself feels the need to come to your rescue. It is my fault that stable boys are neglecting their duties, page boys continue spilling soup in laps at dinner, and animals refuse to stay in their pens. More recently it is my fault that Kitten has been temporarily banished from the castle on the grounds that she was protecting you because I wasn't man enough to—" He stopped short as Daine slapped a hand over his mouth.

She quirked a brow at him. "Are you quite finished yet?" He shook his head. "Then I'm going to save you the trouble and end your little tantrum by telling you that _I_ don't feel that way. Really. No, don't make that face. I've been annoyed and frustrated by the way you've been treating me, but I also understand."

Numair pulled her hand from his mouth and inched closer to her, wishing that he could find the words and stop pussyfooting around the issue. "I'm sorry, just let me finish. I…I had an answer to your question the other day and I didn't give it to you because I didn't want to admit that I'm no different from any of the rest of them."

"Them?"

"_Any_ of them."

"But Numair, you aren't—"

"Yes, I am. There's a simple explanation to your question. Man is animal. Some humans are more assertive and physical than others, just as some animals are more affectionate than others. You said that women don't condone assertions of male dominance, but that is precisely what happens when they attend a tournament and treat the victor more warmly than the loser. It's like what happens with the rut: the victor wins the females. Human men fight amongst each other over women all of the time, only they do it in more subversive ways. As you said, men bring women flowers and jewelry and flatter them. Tell me, what role do necklaces play in winning a woman's heart?"

Daine bit at her lip and thought. It was a silly custom, but then many animal rituals seemed equally as silly. "I suppose animals do the same thing, in a way. Males show off and flaunt their physical prowess in order to attract females, who are looking for a mate that is healthy and capable enough to care for their offspring. That's why male weaver birds build elaborate nests during their courtship, and why stags fight. The animals that mate for life are especially selective. If the same rules are applied to human relationships," she pondered aloud, "then I suppose that women look for men who are fit and capable of working to provide for a family, or for men who are already rich enough to support them. Flowers and jewelry and things are demonstrations of wealth and devotion, though many men enjoy misusing that power."

"So you concede that humans and animals are very similar?"

"If we're going to be so cynical about it, yes. The dolphins treated me like I assume a group of drunks would."

"There's nothing cynical about it—it's the truth." His heart clenched again, but he continued on, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. She leaned into his touch for a brief moment, causing his throat to tighten up. He cleared it. "My only defense for my actions is that I've been fighting it. I didn't realize any of this until after our conversation the other day. Before that I'd been convinced that all of these feelings that I have—the possessiveness, the desire to prove to you that no one can be for you what I can—that they were all primitive instincts men were meant to fight in order to distinguish themselves from animals. Just think about the way I've acted toward you." His breathing and quickened while he spoke, whereas Daine couldn't seem to find the breath for words. His eyes were wide and she found that she couldn't hold his gaze. He rarely allowed himself to become so unhinged around her and she didn't dare to think he was letting down _all_ of his barriers. It was too much to take in at once. All she wanted was to curl up against him and sleep. She mulled over his words and found herself laughing, much to Numair's dismay. "I don't find this the least bit amusing, Daine."

She clutched his arm as she struggled to compose herself, gasping when she finally managed to speak. "Wait, you think that—that you've been—haha—that you've forced me into submission?'

"Your response is enough to prove that I obviously haven't. You know I don't like to be laughed at." His tone was cold, but a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Daine ran her thumb over his lips, releasing the grin he was fighting. "I know, I'm sorry. But if you think that you've somehow been too assertive…_anytime_, with me, I'm not sure what to tell you."

He leaned back and shook his head as she moved closer. His hand found its way to the dip in her side above her hip. "Think about it: every time I think you've died, be it spidrens or fire or what have you, I kiss you silly to convince myself you're alive, all the while disregarding the fact that you've nearly died and would probably prefer to pass out; _I_ nearly die fighting that idiot mage and the only thing I can think of is not being in that position again without having you bound to me in every way possible, so I propose; not to mention the fact that I see red any time you laugh or smile at someone that isn't me. It's despicable."

"The only despicable thing here is that you seem to believe that I'd have you act otherwise. You don't think that I need that reassurance just as much as you? Don't you remember the time I'd thought _you'd_ died and I reanimated all of those creatures and destroyed Ozorne's palace?"

"That's different."

"Maybe, but you should know me well enough to realize that I would tell you off if I felt you'd somehow overstepped a boundary or mistreated me. I know that you are trying to prove to me that I'm different than the other women you've taken to bed, that you truly love me and all that, but I already knew that. I remember the way you looked at the court ladies—you have a completely different look in your eyes when you're with me, and _that_ is all the proof that I needed."

"Yes, but—"

"No. You know I'm right, and I know that the past few weeks have been just as difficult for you as they have been for me. I've been waiting for you to kiss me like you did after we visited the pack."

"And all this while I've been regretting allowing my jealousy to overtake me like that."

"If I'd been upset, don't you think I would have avoided you, rather than followed you around like a lost puppy?"

"Honestly? I thought you sending Cloud after me was a clue to back off."

"As if."

"And then you kept asking me all of those questions about various mating rituals and I was too embarrassed to notice if you were acting differently or not."

"Embarrassed? About what—the fact that the great black robe is fallible?"

"Something like that," he muttered into his pillow.

She smiled down at him, amused and slightly exasperated that it was his pride that had kept them apart the past few weeks. "If it's any consolation, I have appreciated your not pressuring me into marrying you any time soon."

"I'm not sure you parents would agree," he again said into his pillow. She sat up. "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere, but I feel like I should have some actual clothes on before this next part."

He froze in place, reaching for her nightshirt. "Next part?"

Daine grabbed the shirt herself and quickly slid it on, pulling the sheet out from under it afterwards. "The part where we talk about how superstitious you are; I'm feeling better but not _that_ much better. And if you're going to get cold, you may want to put the sheet back on the bed."

He did as she asked, still unsure of where this was going. "I know what you're getting at, and under normal circumstances I would say that I'm not superstitious, but where you're involved all bets are off."

"Sorry?"

"Your father is Weiryn, god of the _hunt_, Daine. Hunt. As in, 'Disrespect my daughter and I'll hunt you down and render you incapable of doing so again'. Only a fool angers a father like that." The sheet once more in its proper place, Numair finished making the bed and climbed in beside Daine. He held an arm out for her and she slid next to him, her back to his chest. When he spoke again his breath stirred the curls near her ear. "So while I am not superstitious, I don't have a death warrant, either."

"That's the coward's way out if I ever heard it." Her giggle ended in a yawn. "Didn't I tell you they like you?"

"They do?"

"Well, they didn't say it in so many words, but they also respected my choice to spend the rest of my life in the mortal realm because they knew that I would be unhappy without you."

"Hold on—when exactly did this happen?"

"Oh, that's right. You were so touchy on the subject that I didn't tell you."

"Didn't tell me what? That your parents tried to keep you with them in the Divine Realms? But that's impossible, because in order to stay there you would have to be…"

"A goddess?"

"No!" He leaned over her to see if she was joking. She wasn't.

"Yes. Technically a minor goddess." She filled in the parts of her tale that she'd neglected to tell him after his proposal. "So you see, I came back to be with _you_."

He buried his face in her hair and laughed, incredulous at the turn of events. "You turn down living in the Divine Realms as a goddess with your parents for me, but you won't hear talk of marriage."

"Those are hardly the same."

"No, yours is so far beyond marriage, but I don't mind." Daine yawned again, and he tightened his arms around her and pulled her closer. "Go to sleep," he whispered, kissing her shoulder.

"You're going to stay?"

"You know me—I sleep like a log."

"Good."

"I probably wouldn't notice if you snuck out to the stables."

"With you here, why would I do that?" she asked, yawning.

"Not a clue. Goodnight, magelet."

"Night, 'Mair."

It wasn't exactly what Alanna had ordered, but that was for the best. It would be better if they eased into things at their own pace, as long as they made sure they were moving forward. Their problem could wait until Daine was healed properly…or most of the way…

* * *

**Believe it or not, I wrote an English paper in which I used **_**Pride & Prejudice**_** and **_**Sense & Sensibility**_** to support Darwin's theory of sexual selection and what is known (I promise I'm not making this up) as the "sexy son hypothesis." Best paper EVER. Look it up—there's actually been a lot written on the subject.**

**And as always, suggestions (although I am sure I know what you will all ask for from the next chapter) are always welcome!**


	4. Chapter 4

**OK, here it goes…the final chapter…and hopefully this will make up for the delay :D This chapter is much lighter and…well, read on. I don't think it's TOO graphic, but do be warned:**

**LEMON ALERT.**

**- Lupin's Magelet**

* * *

Two days had passed, and while the animals were rowdy as ever, Alanna had noticed a change in Daine. And Numair, who had finally left the confines of the library. It was almost like when Daine had first joined their band, when Numair would sneak her out of doing chores so that they could practice meditating or call ponies or whatever it was that they did together back then.

Their meditating was a bit _different_ now, though, and they had been perfecting it over the past two days, thankfully in the forest a ways from the Swoop.

"I'm not saying we have to get married anytime soon—really I should speak to your parents at Beltane first—but I want to at least keep our options open," argued the lanky mage. His fists clenched and the air around him crackled, sending a pair of squirrels fleeing from the area.

Daine barely took note of their retreat, focused as she was upon the issue at hand. As with the previous few days, the animals would complain to her later about the on-going argument between the two-leggers. "You keep talking like I've agreed to marry you. I haven't, for your information, because I don't see what the difference is. We can, Mithros help us, have children and all of that without being married."

"Yes, because _you_ loved growing up a result of an unwed union."

"It's not like they had a choice in the matter!" she screeched.

"I'm not saying they did!" He pulled at his hair, the final piece falling out of his horsetail.

"Besides, you're the one that always says the village I came from is full of a bunch of backwards, ignorant ninnies that need to be taught a lesson in manners and that I don't need to prove myself to them by marrying well!"

"Mostly because I'd hoped you'd want to marry me for _me_, and not to prove a bunch of country yokels wrong!"

"Ahh!"

"Ahhh!"

The two mages stood panting in the clearing, unaware that their argument had been overheard by anxious ears. Daine reached out with her magic and couldn't sense even an ant within a 700 yard radius, which was probably a good thing considering that in her currents state she'd most likely issue a silent call for every creature around to give Numair a good beating. He didn't look much better off, as the ground at his feet was on fire.

Daine slumped to the ground, leaves and pine needles crunching under her as she did. "Put that out before you set the whole forest on fire."

"Hmph." He kicked at the flames and stomped on the ground until the fire was gone. "Just tell me that in a few years you'll be ready."

"Ready for what, exactly?" She tracked his movement as he stooped to pick a flower before joining her on the forest floor, reclining against a stump. He handed her the flower, a blue orchid, which made her smile. "Right, because _that_ is endearing."

"I thought it was fitting."

"Appropriate?"

"No, but fitting," he said, bumping her shoulder with his, which she returned in kind. "I'm tired of arguing about this. Can we just agree that we'll get around to marriage _sometime_?"

"Will it make you feel better if I said yes?" She looked up at him and met his scowl by sticking her tongue out. "I'm sorry but marriage just sounds so boring."

"Boring?" He draped his arm across her shoulders and she snuggled into his side. "How exactly is spending nearly every waking moment with someone—scratch that—spending every waking moment with _me_ boring?"

Daine picked at the stem of her flower, ignoring his gaze. "Well, living with you wouldn't be boring, but…it's just that every time I try to picture myself doing what Ma did: cooking, cleaning, waiting on Grandda…."

In response he tugged at the string holding her hair back until it came free, then pushed her to the ground and propped himself up on his right elbow, his left hand on the ground on the opposite side of her neck so that his face was directly over hers. She squealed and flushed, still unaccustomed to their new freedom with each other. The flower was tossed aside as he slowly circled her face with kisses, careful to prevent any other part of his body from touching hers.

Daine tolerated this until he began sucking on her neck and was struck with the urge to hold onto something. She tried to grab his shoulders, but that wasn't enough. When Numair transferred his attentions to her lips he barely noticed Daine squirming beneath him. Once her agitation registered, he pulled back a hairsbreadth. "You think I want you to cook and clean for me?" She shook her head, unable to form words. "Then maybe you're worried you'll tire of me." Again she weakly shook her head, struggling to bring her body into greater contact with his. Numair shifted and slid a knee between her legs, eliciting a whimper from Daine.

She felt him grin against her cheek before his hands ran up and down her sides, pulling her closer. If she'd been paying attention to her own actions, Daine would have been embarrassed by the way her whimpering rapidly turned to moaning, but all she could concentrate on was exposing Numair's skin to the open air while doing her best to lock her legs around his to increase the friction. Once she'd managed to slip one hand under his shirt he helped her free the rest of it from his pants and shucked it. While he moved to toss it away Daine took note of how wonderful he felt against her, even through their thick breeches.

As soon as the shirt was gone his lips were back with hers, his fingers fumbling with the laces of her tunic. She arched against him as she struggled to remove her belt and it was his turn to moan. He buried his face in her neck and ground against her, grunting slightly as he did so. His lips dipped to her collarbone before exploring the area beneath the loose laces, stopping only when he came to her breastband. Daine was panting heavily when he looked up to meet her eyes. "What's that look for?" she asked after she'd caught her breath.

He shook his head, obscuring his face with his hair. "This isn't how at all how I'd pictured it," he said, running his hands across her belly. His hands on her bare skin had always delighted her, but before they'd only been there with a purpose. Now he was able to take his time and explore, for which Daine was very grateful.

She mimicked his movements with her hands on his skin; down his chest to his wasteline and around his back up to his shoulders. "Thought we'd make it to a bed, did you?"

"Not necessarily—just less pine needles."

"But I'm a wild mage. Where else would you have me?"

He raised himself and brought his nose to hers so that she could only see his eyes. "As long as I get to have you, I'm not too picky about the where and why. Although," he paused and kissed her deliberately, slowly until she was once more moving against him, "I did picture myself being a little more in control."

"But then you'd be the only one, and I thought the point was to let yourself go." She wrapped her arms around his neck and twisted a lock of his hair around her finger. When she tugged on it his eyes darkened and he squeezed her tighter. "That's better."

"Good. Then let's work on you being more nak—OOF!" Before she knew what happened, Numair was sprawled out several feet away, an orange, smoking, screeching dragon atop his chest. Kitten had grown since her meeting with her ancestors and Numair found he couldn't shake her off as he used to. "Hey! Ah—watch the claws, watch the claws!"

"Kit! Come here this instant!" demanded Daine as she scrambled to her feet. The air was warm enough, but as her pulse slowed and her blood cooled she felt a chill without Numair so near. Her arms crossed below her breasts, she cut an imposing figure despite her disheveled clothes and the pine needles clinging to her curls. "What in the name of all that is—?" She stopped to listen to the dragon. Kitten directed her thoughts to her adoptive mother, though her eyes never left her captive. "Mithros," she swore under her breath. "Let him up. NOW."

The dragon's scales darkened and she shook her head, her tail lashing back and forth dangerously.

"Skysong, don't you make me tell your grandsire about this." Kitten's eyes darted to where Daine stood, her attention diverted by the threatening use of her true name. Numair took advantage of her momentary distraction and shoved her aside. He took deep breathes and rubbed a hand over the fresh claw marks marring his muscled chest. "Come here." The spines along the dragon's back bristled, but she did as she was told. Daine knelt down and held Kitten's face close to her own. Numair watched the silent exchange with curiosity—whatever it was that his magelet was saying to her charge had caused the dragon's scales to pale.

Daine's anger did not last long. She kissed Kitten on the nose and lifted an eyebrow in question. Numair sat still as Kitten slowly approached him, her head hung low in apology. She chirped a few sad notes, by far the most pitiful sounds he'd ever heard from a dragon. "Kit says she's sorry for overreacting, but she heard us arguing earlier and thought I was in trouble. She didn't mean to attack you, but with what's been going on lately…Anyways, I told her that as long as _you_ are the one chasing after me she doesn't need to fend you off."

He said nothing until she scratched at the ground and flattened herself at his feet, her eyes still lowered in submission. Despite the horrible timing of the dragon's appearance, Numair was too soft to continue tormenting her. "Come here," he instructed, his voice far less-commanding than Daine's had been. She stuck her tongue out at him, indicating that she did not appreciate him making her out to be the bad guy. "I'm sorry we worried you, but you know that I would never purposefully do anything to make Daine unhappy, right?" Kit nuzzled her head against the side of his neck in agreement. "I forgive you, but next time a warning would nice, alright?"

Kitten's eyes narrowed at him and she whistled and clicked her tongue in a way that had Daine laughing. "She says she did warn you, but you were too, uh, hard at it that you didn't hear her. When you didn't answer her she was worried you weren't yourself."

"Hard at it is right," he muttered, and Daine noticed with a blush that being attacked by an angry hatchling had done little to quell his desire.

"This wouldn't have happened if we were in a bed."

"Yes it would've: she can pick locks, remember?"

"Oh, right."

After another silent exchange with Daine that left the wild mage blushing, a less-angry Kitten disappeared into the trees. "I think she's been left alone with Cloud too much," she said as she returned to his side.

Eager to recommence with their earlier activities he pulled her down next to him and kissed her forehead. She stretched out on her back and allowed him to reposition himself overtop of her. "What exactly did she say before she left?" He smiled as her knee raised in response to his hand running along the underside of her thigh, her legs creating a warm cradle for him to settle into.

She ran her fingers over the marks that Kitten's hind claws had left on his lower abdomen. His breath caught at her touch as she bashfully looked up from beneath her long eyelashes. "She said that she was going to make sure the animals and anyone else around leave us alone until 'Da has fixed my problem.' Despite her protectiveness, I'm afraid she's still a bit too young to understand why the People are so riled up."

It took a moment for the words to sink in, and when they did he still didn't believe it. "She really—I mean, she thinks I'm her…?"

Daine nodded. "I think she always has. Apart from me and Tkaa I don't think she trusts anyone more than she does you."

"I guess I knew that we somehow fell into the parental roles and played them rather well, but it's humbling to know that she sees us that way. _You_ I understand, but _me_…"

She found herself laughing, despite the way Numair's hands were slowly inching up her sides. "If you have trouble accepting the fact that we are the adoptive parents of a dragon, I can't help but wonder how you reconcile the rest of my adoptive family."

Her laughter increased as his fingers danced across her belly. "Rather easily, actually. You were given life by two minor gods, and later by chance were adopted by wolves and a badger god while under the matronly care of a puritanical pony that doesn't much care for me at times. I don't think we'll have any trouble explaining the family tree to the grandchildren, do you?"

"You're expecting grandchildren, then?"

"Not immediately, but that reminds me…" His hand disappeared into his pocket and removed a small silver charm shaped like a badger, a familiar rune etched on the back side. "This is for your chain. I've worked the spells myself, and as long as it's attached to the badger's claw it should stay with you when you shift." After he attached the pregnancy charm to the claw's chain, he moved against her and pressed his lips to her ear, causing Daine to shiver. Her heart rate sped and Numair was close enough that his heart responded to hers. "At the moment I'm content to keep you to myself," he whispered gruffly.

"Good answer." She dragged his lips back to hers. "Now I believe you made some negative remark in regard to my clothing?" His grin spread and the two picked up where they had been interrupted. As their passion increased clothes were stripped away, but before Daine had been freed of her undergarments the pine needles began to stick to their skin and discomforted the mages enough to give Numair reason to pull away. He sat up and brushed himself off.

"This won't do at all," he said, picking needles from Daine's bare stomach.

She didn't let him move too far away, though, and slid into his lap. "You're a mage: fix it." Momentarily distracted, Numair returned her kisses with fervor. His fingers pulled at the ties of her breastband and a throaty moan moved from his chest to hers. She batted his hand away and broke their kiss. "No, ground first," she breathed, her chest heaving and driving away the few rational thoughts he had left.

"Ahem, right. Ground." He stole another kiss before summoning his magic to create a barrier over the ground. "Next time we bring a blanket."

"Next time we don't get out of bed in the first place," she said between kisses. Her hands tangled in his hair as her mouth moved beneath his ear. Black fire poured from his fingertips, but all he could concentrate on was the way Daine was nipping her way along his jaw. As a result the pine needles turned to a fine powder. Daine shifted in his lap and ran her fingers over the ground. "I suppose this is one of those simple magics that you're too important and powerful to learn to do properly?"

"No," he pouted. "I would have been able to do it if you hadn't been distracting me."

"It's alright. I mean, everyone has an off day sometimes."

"I'm not having an off day."

"I don't blame you. I promise."

"There is nothing wrong with me."

"So you're blaming me?"

"Yes."

Something in her twisted as the corner of his mouth edged upwards in a tight smirk and his eyes bored into hers. Her breath caught in her throat, bringing an end to her teasing. "Numair?"

"Hmm?"

"Fix the ground."

"Right, but you have to get off of my lap first." He reluctantly pushed her away and stood up to get a better look at the area. Unembarrassed by her state of undress, Daine stood a few feet away and watched him, proud that she was able to muddle his mind as much as he did hers. It also afforded her the opportunity to admire the lean body that until now she'd only been able to fully appreciate in her dreams. Apparently restoring the pine needles was out of the question, but he did manage to create one of the soft barriers he used for their campsites which he believed would also keep them relatively dust-free. In addition to the usual privacy spells and Kitten's sworn absence, there was nothing more to interrupt them.

When he was finished he turned around and stared at her, and for the first time upon their entering the forest she was self-conscious. It was silly, she knew, but this was the first time they'd allowed themselves to fully drop their barriers. Still partially clothed, it was the barest they'd ever been around each other. He wasn't trying to hide his desire from her as he usually did, meaning that she was free to show how much she wanted him without feeling guilty. The immensity of it all nearly overwhelmed her.

He saw the emotion dance across her face and in two quick strides had her in his arms again. She leapt into his embrace and wrapped her legs around his waist as their mouths opened to each other. Both fought for control of the kiss, and had Numair been a weaker man his knees would have given out. He managed to drop to the ground without jarring them too much, though Daine was so caught up in his mouth and the effect his hands were having on her that she didn't notice she was on her back until he was spreading her legs with his and kissing his way down her chest. Her body arched against him and he emitted a strangled groan. "Are you trying to kill me?" he asked her cleavage.

She mimicked her movement and he repeated the sound again. "No, but your pants are." He rolled aside and kicked his breeches off while Daine sat up and fought with the ties of her breastband. "What did you do to these?"

"I tried to take them off," he said in a strained voice; in his rush his pants had twisted around his ankles and refused to slide off. One lace at a time she untangled the knot Numair had created. Once he managed to free himself from his pants he helped her with the rest and tossed the binding leather aside, leaving them both clothed only in their loincloths. As he leaned in to kiss her he discovered she was shaking. "May I ask what it is that has you so amused?"

Daine bit her lip and looked up at him, failing to control her laughter. She shook her head, but the frown on his face seemed to say he was hurt. At least that's the look he was aiming for, but at the same time he was battling the urge to explore her newly exposed flesh. "No, I just—I was so nervous about this, and…I don't know—it's funny, isn't it? It's hardly your first time, but you seem as out of sorts as I am."

It was more a question, her way of asking if he really was nervous or not. She hadn't meant to cause him to be embarrassed, but really, he'd never had trouble getting his pants off before.

And the truth was that he _was_ nervous, more so than any previous encounter with a woman. Before, that's what they had been: encounters. Few of those encounters were repeated, while the even fewer long-term relationships had not lasted as long as the time he'd spent consciously waiting for Daine to be lying beneath him like she was. Never before had he been more uncertain of his course of action, as all he seemed to be able to focus on was the beautiful young woman before him and the knowledge that he would never accept anyone else into his heart or his bed after he made Daine his. She would be his as much as he would be hers; that much was clear. Yet no matter how deeply he desired to voice his thoughts at the moment, he also believed that she wasn't yet prepared to acknowledge that he would not take no for an answer after this.

At some point she would have to accept his proposal and marry him, despite her reservations.

Daine suspected he was thinking somewhere along these lines and she knew—deep down—that she would eventually say yes. The depth of the emotion in his eyes said as much, and she knew that her eyes mirrored his. Marriage was simply a custom she was unfamiliar with, but time would bring her around. This thought sobered her and she reached out to draw him closer, unafraid. Nervous, yes, but she knew her place was with Numair. If marriage meant spending the rest of her life with the man that made her feel like she was the only woman in the world, well, that wouldn't be so bad.

The agreement was reached without words, sealed by the way his hands cupped her breasts and the sound she made in response. His mouth followed his hands and toyed with Daine until all he could hear was a stream of unintelligible words flowing from her mouth. She wanted something from him and he was more than willing to give it. With one hand in her hair, Numair slid the other hand down the length of her torso. His fingers danced across the waistline of her loincloth. "You know this will hurt, right?"

She brushed his hair aside so that she could see him better, his eyes deep brown pools of desire. "Good thing I have a fairly high pain tolerance." Talks with Onua and several of her other friends, apart from what she already knew from her animal friends, had prepared Daine, and she knew that Numair would wait until she was ready before he fully let go. She arched against him again, shifting to bring his hand lower. The dampness between her legs was growing uncomfortable and she was ready to shed the rest of their clothing.

He got the hint and finished stripping himself before he slowly bared her. She didn't have the nerve to look at him until he was again kissing her. His breathing was louder, and the throaty moans vibrating from his chest to hers indicated that he wasn't going to stop even if the barrier fell again. His passion fueled her own and she grasped his shoulders while her legs tightened around his in an attempt to draw him in.

His hand lowered even further, testing her. One finger dipped in to the source of her delicious heat and her breathing sped up. He added another finger, feeling her soft walls tense around him. When he removed his hand she moaned loudly, her eyes closed until he'd gently secured her wrists above her head in his grip. "I love you," he breathed before entering her.

Daine's eyes widened, though she couldn't focus her sight. He was kissing her much more slowly and carefully than before. The sensation wasn't as bad as she'd first anticipated—in fact, the discomfort she felt could hardly be described as pain. There was a pressure she was unfamiliar with, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. Coming back to herself she responded to his kisses, finally beginning to enjoy this new closeness. Then the pain came as he broke through her maidenhood.

She cried out weakly against his lips, her grip on his shoulders tightening as the fire tore through her. _This_ was the pain she had been warned about, and though it was not the worst she'd experienced, it certainly was not pleasant. The trick was to not think about it, and ignoring pain was a skill Daine was well acquainted with. After some time she became aware that Numair was speaking, whispering soothing words of love in her ear. Further sensations registered afterwards. His arms were tight around her, his hands stroking her; she was flattened against him and the soft hair of his chest tickled her sensitive flesh. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she inhaled the heady spice smell that was distinctly Numair's. The knowledge that he was there with her, barely holding himself back for her, allowed Daine to eventually relax.

Numair let out a deep breath, glad that she was no longer painfully clenched around him. "I love you." His words soothed her further and she relinquished her grip on his shoulders, allowing him to meet her eyes.

"I love you, too."

Tentatively, Numair moved his hips. The slight hitch in her breathing and raising of her brows was response enough, but when Daine shifted beneath him he knew she was ready for more. He started slowly, careful to watch her face for more signs of discomfort. He maintained the slow pace until Daine's eyes narrowed and her hips began moving with his. What little restraint he'd managed to maintain thus far snapped. She saw the moment his eyes changed and her legs locked around him of their own accord.

The pace picked up and Daine felt like she was losing herself one thrust at a time, and she couldn't find a reason to care. After all, she was losing herself to Numair as he was offering up himself in return. Hands kneaded, chests heaved, mouths trailed hot open-mouthed kisses over whatever they could reach as the two succumbed to a magic as old as time, sharing their hearts and their bodies to reach a higher, brighter place. This, however, was a pair staking their claim over the other, as though every touch and moan would declare to the world that their lover belonged to no one else.

Daine felt a new pressure building low in her belly as breathing soon became more difficult. Numair's shoulders were beginning to shake on either side of her and his breathing was more labored as well. He held her face close to his as she arched against him in earnest, unable to throw her head back because of the strong hand beneath it. "Sweet, just let it come," he said, his voice deeper than she'd ever remembered hearing it. Her vision blurred and her mind spun, lost in a sea of flashing colors. She thought she was shouting something, but all she could hear was Numair calling out her name.

He used the last of his strength to roll them over before he fully collapsed on top of her smaller frame. Daine, her consciousness still slightly separated from her body, nuzzled against him and basked in the feeling of the sun and Numair's body on her bare skin.

Sighs of contentment brought a smile to the mage's face and he continued combing his fingers through Daine's soft hair. When he'd sufficiently regained his breath, he tilted her chin up for a kiss. "And _that_ is exactly why I find the term 'canoodling' to be far too inadequate and on the whole utterly ridiculous."

"Hmmm…I don't care what we call it, so long as we do it more."

"I think that can be arranged," he said between kisses. "Though next time we should try for a bed."

"Or at least a blanket, because we wouldn't want a repeat of—" He cut her off with a kiss and she squealed as his fingers toyed with the areas of her body that he'd discovered were particularly sensitive.

"I thought we cleared up this silly matter—I am in no ways deficient or inadequate. At all. I am a superior specimen of a man and you should treat me as such," he said with as much pomp as he could muster, trying to keep his arrogant face from breaking. Daine's laughter was too much for him, though, and he cracked a smile. "Woman, desist with this distractive giggling and fetch me my robe. Fix us a snack while you're at it."

"Really? 'Woman?' How would you like it if I start running around doing that? Man? Man where are my clothes? I'm naked and I—"

"Hmm, yes, I know you're naked. That's how I like you."

"If you think about it, the majority of the time I'm around you—especially in battle—I'm running around without clothes."

"Yes, but _these_," he said, palming her breasts, "and plumage are not quite the same. And if they were I would make sure you were better covered."

"Hold on—are you saying you could spell a robe or something to stay with me when I shift forms?"

His eyes rolled to the side while he thought about it. "Possibly. The most difficult part would be ensuring that we could alter its size to fit that of your animal form so that you didn't have to worry about tripping over it. I haven't really given it much thought, but if I—"

"No, stop. Why haven't we tried this before?"

Numair swept a lock of hair from her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. "If I'd known that you were so bothered by it I would've said something before now."

"What—you thought I enjoyed running around naked?"

"You don't seem to mind it now." The pride he took from this comment made her blush. "But honestly, I didn't realize it embarrassed you so much."

She watched the way his face changed and she realized what was going on. "No, that's not it—you enjoy watching me scramble for cover every time I forget to dress after I shift."

"The thought _had_ crossed my mind…but it happens so often now that I wondered if you really didn't like being caught that way."

"For your information, Master Mage, I enjoy being clothed as much as anyone else."

"Not when you're alone with me."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, I give up."

"Good. Now, before I ask you a question, let me ask how the animals are feeling."

Daine reached out with her mind to see if the People had settled down. Numair's thumbs brushed her cheeks while he waited. "Actually," she said, her brows shooting up to show her astonishment, "They seem to have calmed down. I was a bit worried that they would react to…you know, but I guess I didn't project _those_ particular emotions. I wonder why, though. I seem to project every other time I can't control how I feel."

"Hmm, probably for the best. I expect—what with the influx of puppies and kittens and ponies and such—that we would be banned from Swoop. And Corus, and everywhere else for that matter."

"Not that I particularly want to be in either of those places at the moment, but things wouldn't have gotten so out of whack if you had simply been a good boy and lent me a hand. Oh!"

His laughter echoed around the clearing. "While I do not doubt the power of my hand, I'm still not sure that it would have been enough to satiate you." She moaned as her eyes rolled back, enjoying the skills of the hand in question. "Besides, being good hasn't convinced you to marry me."

"You're right," she said breathlessly, pulling him into a deep kiss. "I think being bad may do the trick, though."

* * *

**Kudos to those of you who understood the significance of the blue orchid. Name etymology is both slightly disturbing AND fun! Also, I know that pregnancy charms are supposed to look like closed wombs, but then those are a bit of giveaway for unmarried women. I figured that Numair the all-powerful and devious mage would be able to make it look like something else. Let me know what you thought: this is the first lemon I've written!**

**Thanks to all of my readers for sticking with this story and encouraging me to continue working on it. Hopefully I'll be able to write more stories for this pair in the future :D**


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